Government must announce a Sovereign Guarantee for all its citizens to access a bank loan to educate

MCIE, India - June 2, 2014 - PRLog -- 30 May 2014, New Delhi

The Centre for Public Policy has come up with strong recommendation for the New Government urging it to provide a “Sovereign Guarantee” through an act of parliament whereby each citizen has guaranteed Access to a Bank loan without having to provide collateral. CPP believes that collateral free loans will give a new edge to the upliftment of the youth who in spite of having the capability, lack opportunities.

It is to be noted that, CPP is a think tank organization, which raises issues of the public domain involving bureaucratic community, opinion makers, civil society and NGOs to participate actively in the shaping and operationalising policy issues.

President of Centre for Public Policy, Dr. Harbeen Arora correctly points out that “In the 21^st century, we often talk about development, modernization, globalization and privatization. But have we forgotten that “education” accounts to their existence?” Recently Dr. Arora has co-authored a book “Dawn of a Vibrant India” which talks about the areas of concern, in the higher education today and how can our government productively make a difference. She rightly said that:  “Quality education is the fundamental right of every individual and no one should remain untouched by its transformative power. Even though our Constitution talks about the equality for all, access to quality education remains unanswered.”

A report by Centre For Public Policy (CPP) categorically points out that most citizens don’t get all the privileges enjoyed by the rich. Many aspiring students don’t get the privilege of living a decent life with basic facilities provided, their financial condition hinders their growth and they turn out to be an unfortunate “dropout”. In order to bring equality in all sections of society, accessibility to education for all the citizens of India is a must. Over the years a lot of schemes and initiatives have been introduced by our government but none seem to have provided a solution to the perpetual problem of disparity, inequality and poor quality in education.

Government must understand that these collateral free loans can provide an opportunity to the people to choose a college or university of their choice without considering the affordability. India surely needs to change its age old policies of higher education in order to cater to the needs of those who need financial aid and support. Lack of financial support is one of the biggest hindrances that students face in pursuing higher education and to cap it all collaterals make it all the more difficult to avail loans which restricts one from studying further. The suggestions made by Centre for Public Policy are noteworthy and worth implementing for the sake of our prosperous future.

Dr. Arora states that “The United States has such a sovereign guarantee in place and if we have to grow larger and bigger than them, which we will, then we have to educate each and every citizen of our country with quality education, so that everyone gets employed and contributes to the growth of the nation.”

Taking an example of world-renowned MIT- Approximately 90 percent of MIT undergraduates receive some type of financial aid (scholarships, loans and term-time jobs) from various sources (MIT, federal, state, or private). This also includes need-based and merit-based aid from non-MIT sources. About 30% of undergraduates borrow each year, and their average annual loan is $6,750. The U.S. Department of Education offers a variety of federal grants to students attending four-year colleges or universities, community colleges, and career schools. This states how peculiar is the foreign government in empowering the youth by providing quality education without commercial constraints.

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